At Dragonscale Bank, Reno couldn’t help but laugh out loud as he watched the scene unfold.
Then, noticing the stern expression of the grand steward beside him, he quickly stifled his laughter, forcing a serious demeanor.
He simply hadn’t expected such an absurd moment in this competition.
Was Karea Academy not even trying to select qualified participants? Or did they just send someone random to embarrass themselves?
Attacking an
ice giant
with ice magic? Even the most inexperienced fighter could have seen the effect of the earlier ice mountain striking the giants—it had only made them stronger.
Yet here was this mysterious participant, responding with more ice magic.
Reno could barely contain himself. How could anyone watch this and not laugh?
Initially, he thought Karea Academy’s mysterious chosen competitor might pose a real challenge. But now… she was just a joke.
Still, Reno quickly restrained his laughter again after glancing at the grand steward, understanding the need to maintain respect for their opponent.
The grand steward, however, had also begun to relax. A smile crept onto his face.
“It seems… this Karea Academy participant isn’t much after all.”
Before the competition began, their greatest concern had been Nora, the mysterious chosen one from Karea Academy. They couldn’t find any information about her, not even how she had been selected. This made them suspect Karea Academy might be their toughest rival this time.
But now, it seemed… she was no threat at all.
With the grand steward smiling, Reno finally let himself laugh freely.
The only one still watching intently was Elise.
In her eyes, it was impossible for someone trained under Daniel to be so incompetent. If that were the case, she wouldn’t have been so concerned to begin with.
After all, neither Rose, Reed, nor Green were ordinary talents.
And Nora? Could she really be this terrible?
Elise chose to keep watching in silence.
…
At House Ponton, Hayes could barely contain his frustration.
Before the
Battle for Dominance
began, he had repeatedly reminded Nora of the stakes—just win, and everything could be negotiated.
But now…
What was she doing?
Hayes knew Nora’s capabilities. These
ice giants
should have been no match for her. She even had a spell capable of creating a localized spatial trap, which would have easily dealt with the giants.
But instead, she was using ice magic to
strengthen
the enemies? Was she trying to make the battle more challenging for herself?
…
In the spectator area, even Rose, who trusted Nora, frowned.
Would this kind of attack really work?
Unlike Rose, who had years of experience battling outside the academy, Nora had spent most of her time at Karea Academy.
“Just keep watching,” Daniel said calmly. “Nora may not have fought much in the outside world…”
But in the half-divine artifact, her experiences surpassed those of Rose and Reed combined.
Reassured, Rose continued watching.
The ice spikes launched from Nora’s harp hit their mark, embedding themselves in the
ice giants
. As expected, the spikes merged seamlessly with the giants’ bodies, just as everyone had anticipated.
But then…
The giants, who had been preparing to attack, suddenly froze.
They stood motionless, as if someone had hit a pause button on their massive bodies.
When did this happen?
Moments earlier, the giants had been advancing on Nora. Now, they were utterly still.
Nora lowered her harp and continued walking forward, passing beneath the towering giants without so much as a glance.
The
ice giants
, for their part, appeared oblivious to her presence. They remained frozen in place.
Only after Nora had walked past them did they begin to move again. But as they moved, their bodies began to crumble.
Ice fragments fell from their frames, followed by their limbs and heads.
In the end, these towering
ice giants
collapsed into piles of ice chunks on the ground.
The scene stunned everyone.
The viewing area, which had been buzzing with chatter moments before, fell into an eerie silence.
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The spectator who had earlier dismissed Nora as inexperienced and inept now sat with his head lowered, avoiding eye contact with anyone.
…
Daniel wasn’t surprised by the outcome. Had Nora failed to do this,
that
would have shocked him.
After all, Nora possessed a half-divine artifact.
…
At Dragonscale Bank, the silence in the room was deafening.
The grand steward’s expression had grown serious, and Reno’s smile was frozen in place.
He couldn’t fathom how the attack he had found so laughable—a seemingly ineffective ice spell—had obliterated the
ice giants
so completely.
This was no ordinary feat.
The
Water Field
operated under unique rules. The
ice giants
, born from these rules, were immensely powerful. Earlier, even shards from a shattered ice mountain had been absorbed by the giants, enhancing their strength.
Yet Nora had destroyed them with ice magic—magic that should have
strengthened
them.
What did this mean?
For most participants, initial comprehension of a field’s rules allowed them to move freely within its constraints.
Advanced comprehension enabled them to learn and use the field’s rules to their advantage in battle.
But Nora…
She had achieved mastery.
She had fully integrated the
Water Field’s
rules into her own magic system.
Only by mastering the rules could she so effortlessly destroy creatures born from them.
After all, her mastery of the rules meant her power superseded theirs.
Once Reno grasped this, his earlier laughter felt like a distant memory. His expression turned grim.
The grand steward, having realized this earlier, wore a solemn look as well.
“When did Karea Academy produce such a prodigy?” the grand steward murmured.
At such a young age, Nora had already achieved this level of mastery over a field’s rules in mere moments.
It was worth noting that Nora had awakened only slightly later than Imora.
The grand steward knew Imora’s capabilities well. From her movements, it was clear that she had only grasped the basics of the
Earth Field’s
rules—enough to move freely without being hindered by the field’s unique environment. She hadn’t even begun utilizing the rules to her advantage.
But this girl, Nora, had not only mastered the rules but had also incorporated them into her magic.
…
In the spectator area, whispers of awe filled the air.
“So strong…”
Everyone was amazed by Nora’s performance.
They all understood the strength of the
ice giants
, especially after one spectator had spent so much time explaining how foolish Nora’s actions were and how powerful the giants were.
And now…
Nora had used ice magic to destroy the
ice giants
?
What kind of monstrous talent and power was this?